Privacy Please!

Not all that long ago beau had 11 of the windows in the house replaced. After the great window upgrade, we thought hanging the shabby old blinds wasn't really worthy of the fancy new windows. (Though we did put the adorable little half-window shutters back in the kitchen since I often sit at the obtrusive peninsula-table to grade and read the paper in the morning. Sometimes that morning look is a wee bit scary. And, like I said, I like my neighbors. I like them too much to  allow them to witness the bedhead and such.)

So, a vast majority of the downstairs is pretty wide open. For the most part, that's fine. We didn't need privacy in the dining room or the sun porch immediately and I wanted to weigh options and put in window dressings that we really like and that work with the room. Because, dang, those things can be pricey.

There is one room, however, where the  missing window dressing is a little bit, well, obscene. Yep. That's right:

 You are correct, that is bathroom-esque tile. (The super sized frame around the window is a long story. It works for now, though beau hates it.) And yes, that is a straight shot to my neighbors' living room. Oh, and we have only one bathroom in the house.

But wait, there's more. It is not just a bathroom window, but a shower window. What the what? Who does that? If you have put two and two together, you have just realized that the straight shot from the only shower in the house into my neighbors' living room can get a little uncomfortable, well, all the time. Because one showers in the nude. One does not want to become more entertaining than whatever the neighbors are watching on TV, either. (Well, we don't. If you think this would be a fun adventure, I'm not judging.)

In the name of decency we had a very lovely hand towel taped (yes, taped) up to cover the lower half of the window. Unfortunately, in my haste to take it down, I did not photograph that example of stylish decor. Take my word: not cute at all. But it worked and we weren't quite sure what we were going to do in there. Previously there were blinds. But they got a little rusty and the strings were constantly wet and I had images of strange microorganisms living on them and leaping gleefully on to my person as I unknowingly showered. Gross. And obviously, curtains wouldn't be super practical.

What to do? What to do? On one of my many recent trips to Home Depot I discovered a product called Light Effects. They are clingy window films that promise to "Obscure Unwanted Views." You know, views like me. Showering. The product also claims to be "Easy to Install and Remove." I'm down with that. I selected "Texture Twelve." It looks just like textured glass. Other options look like stained glass and are colorful and pretty. They also have other clear but textured options, but this seemed simple and effective. Besides, I wasn't sure how beau would feel about a clematis stained glass effect in the bathroom.

They were right. It was easy to install. Just measure, cut and slap on the window. It even came with a little squeegee to get the air pockets out. Awesome. In less than 10 minutes I had this:

I'm not 100% convinced that the texture is quite enough. We'll have to do some night time observations and such. (Creepy...) In the meantime I have lined shower products up along the window sill to cover my lady-bits until I know for sure there is nothing but a vague outline visible.


Total cost of the project: $19.95 (plus tax)
Value of being able to look the neighbors in the eye: priceless


Has a neighbor ever accidentally seen you in an embarrassing situation? Does anyone else out there have a window in their shower? What have you done about that? Have you initiated peeping experiments into your own house to see what can be seen from outside?